Wireless Access

Hi:

I've been getting reports of connections dropping in dorms, and I noticed some 80Mhz bandwidth connections. I disabled those, and I'm awaiting results.

 

But it got me to wondering if there are any rules of thumb in higher density areas. This is a dorm with AP225's in the hallways (Not ideal, I know. We're hoping to put them in the dormrooms next summer)

 

In our current situation, would you recommend 20Mhz channels only? 20Mhz and 40Mhz? HT? VHT? other?

 

Thanks,

Tony

 

#AP225

It really depends on your environment. Has an RF analysis been done of the area?

Generally 20 MHz channels are used in very HD areas. VHT should always be enabled.

Hi Tim:

Thanks for the reply. I figured the answer would be 'it depends,' but I figured I'd ask anyway. :-)

 

We had a brief RF survey done, but nothing formal. Since it's an older, wooden building, the feeling was that the hallway placement would work fine.

But we did replace AP65's with 225's over the summer.

I didn't realize they would run 80Mhz channels with older 3400 controllers! Shutting of 80Mhz channels is probably going to help. If that doesn't I'll back it off to 20Mhz, and see if that makes a difference.

 

If I can make it through this academic year, I can probably do an every other room (or every 3rd room) AP install next summer.

 

 

Thanks,

Tony

 

 

 

 

 

For a very dense area I recommend you use 20 Mhz channels, you should leave HT and VHT enabled.

 

If you have DFS enabled then you could have 40 Mhz channels 

 

 

In an older building, you'll likely be fine with 40. Do you have AirWave?

Yes, I have Airwave, but haven't been able to delve into it as deeply as I'd like.

Is there a relevant report / statistic that I should look at?

Thanks.

You may want to create a few reports that run everyday and target that building (ap-group)

- Match Event
- RF Health
- Capacity Planning